Revenue up 40 per cent at BusinessDesk.com

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Regional business website TheBusinessDesk.com has reached a 'milestone'in its readership claiming that more than 100,000 people have signed up to its daily news email.

The publishers of the site, which was launched four year ago, also said revenue was up 40 per cent to around around £1m

It now claims to be the most visited regional business news website in the three UK regions where it is active – the North West, Yorkshire and the West Midlands.

The site first launched in Leeds in 2007 before opening sister sites and offices in Manchester in 2008 and Birmingham in 2010.

As of 16 November registered user numbers for its three sites stood at just over 47,000 in Yorkshire, 36,000 in the North West and in excess of 17,000 in the West Midlands, the publishers said. TheBusinessDesk claims to reach more than 300,000 readers a month.

Co-founder and managing director of TheBusinessDesk.com, David Parkin, said: 'We have reached two key milestones, 100,000 registered users across three sites shows how rapidly we are growing user numbers, but crucially we have increased revenues by over 40 per cent again last year to nudge £1m.

'We have grown turnover by 350 per cent in the last three years, and that shows the potential for this young business.

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He added: 'Our user base increased by 45 per cent since September 2010, and with revenues on a similar trajectory this will be our first year of operating profit.

'We now have a great platform for expansion within our existing regions and also into new territories should we see the right opportunity.'

'We are just starting to see the revenue benefits of our SEO ranking and the shift towards online reputation management tools, and we see this as a huge potential market for us. 'The typical reader is in their 30s or 40s, earns in excess of £100,000 a year and influences or controls significant corporate spending, and our profile partners want to reach and influence this upper level of the business and professional community.

'Over the coming months we will be making a move to expand further, but whether that involves a strategic alliance with other data or publishing organisations remains to be seen.
'We continue to have some interesting initial conversations with parties who like what we do, and appreciate the value of the content and access we have built up over the past four years, we are open minded to the opportunities."